duluth walk recap

last week a bunch of us huddled on a sidewalk near chester creek and began chatting about the characteristics of the north woods biome.

then we talked about how people have stewarded, farmed, loved and otherwise connected with the land under us over time.
this collective history share included things like:
- manoomin, or wild rice, as part of the story that brought the Anishinaabeg here
- the clear cutting of these forests by the timber industry between 1880-1910
- the 1916 strike across the Iron Range through the ports of Duluth, that ultimately helped win fair wages and 8-hour work days

it was super cold, so we soon waddled down the sidewalk toward the creek.

there we spent a while gazing at this tree. someone shared about of the emerald ash borer that has swiftly killed hundreds of millions (!) of ash trees across Turtle Island by eating the inner bark, which eliminates the tree’s main transport system for water and nutrients. we drew the ash’s leaf shape in the snow while discussing how people harvest the fresh summer season growth inside ash tree trunks for basket making (Robin Wall Kimmerer dives into this in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, in the chapter called “Wisgaak Gokpenagen: A Black Ash Basket“)

after that, half of the group with frozen toes headed back to boil some tea while the rest romped around the creek for a while.

love to all who beared the cold to share memories, identification tips, feelings and stories ♥️